THE FOSSIL OF A NEW SPECIES of snake with small front and hind limbs was found in
95-million-year-old deposits near Jerusalem. The site was once an ancient marine
environment, suggesting a seafaring lifestyle for the fossilized snake. Dubbed
Haasiophis terrasanctus, it is the second limbed species of primitive snake to come
from there.

Contrasting Views of Snake Evolution

The first such species, Pachyrhachis problematicus, is thought by some
paleontologists to be a transitional link between mosasaurs—gigantic swimming lizards
of the Cretaceous period—and true snakes. This view of snakes originating in the sea
contrasts with the traditional view that snake ancestors were small terrestrial or
burrowing lizards who eventually lost their legs through evolution.

Features Not Found in Lizards

A group of scientists from the Field Museum in Chicago and the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem have concluded that the new species was closely related to Pachyrhachis.
Each of the fossil animals has a hinged upper jaw and a skull that completely surrounds
the brain, feaures not found in lizards.

It is not known how the legs themselves might have been used since they are too small
in relation to the animal's body to have any locomotor function.